Citizens of Convenience by Lawrence B. A. Hatter

More important for Hatter’s story, though, is the way policymakers envisioned how trade and travel would occur in the region. According to the terms of peace, the British were supposed to relinquish control of many forts in the Great Lakes Region, but that never really happened. After the Peace of Paris, the words on paper that created a border between the now independent United States and the British-controlled Canadian province proved hard to enforce in practice. He resurrects a fascinating if long-forgotten history of the Great Lakes Region that has important resonances with contemporary issues. Hatter interrogates the way the northern border of the United States functioned from the close of the American Revolution until the end of the War of 1812. Hatter explores these very issues, but does so for another time and in a very different place. Many point out that the current immigration laws are disconnected from the needs and functions of a more mobile and interconnected 21st–century global economy. They see the country’s immigration policies as too rigid and antiquated. Instead, they argue for a more sensible approach to immigration, one that makes affordances for migrant workers, refugees, and others. Those opposed to this policy offer a range of arguments against such a solution. Others worry about the affect new cultures will have on American society, some embracing ideas of fervent nationalism. The most thoughtful proponents of the wall argue that a nation without secure borders can hardly be considered a state. Some on the American Right are demanding that the federal government build a wall along the border to reduce the flow of immigrants to the country.

Today, there is a great deal of attention paid to the United States’ southern border abutting Mexico.

Citizens of Convenience by Lawrence B. A. Hatter